Esme Blegvad “This comic is about how sometimes relief is difficult to indulge in–when trying to cut down on smoking weed, for instance, or fighting yourself to not reach out to a toxic fuckboy. There’s almost an inversion of the meaning of ‘relief’ wherein you’re actively trying to avoid the feeling rather than attaining it. As illustrated in the comic, and in my personal experience, this struggle is almost always futile, because itches have to be scratched.” -Esme Blegvad Name Esme Blegvad Age 26 What is your current location? Bed Stuy, Brooklyn Where are you from? I was born and grew up in London, England, but I’m actually from America, France, and Scandinavia, so I’ve had a massive identity crisis my whole life and I’m always considered a foreigner, no matter where I am. What is your current occupation? At parties I like to tell people I’m an illustrator, but I also moonlight as an after-school nanny on the side. It’s the perfect job to draw at. Do you have any training or formal education in the field of art you work in, or are you self taught? I’m self-taught. I come from a family of generations of very talented artists, and I kind of figured I couldn’t bother to keep up with the (friendly and loving!) competition, so I thought I’d be a writer. I ended up going to college for writing but decided in my
last year that all I wanted to do was draw comics, so I finished up school by sitting in the back of every class and drawing pictures and little comics that I would then sell to whoever wanted to buy them via my tumblr. My professors were very supportive and cool about it but I remember my grandfather, uncle, and dad heartily mocking me when I announced that I was going to try to be an illustrator without going to art school like they all had. I guess I showed them! Suckers!!! What people, books, films, (etc…) inspire you the most? Mainly I think I get inspired by other art and artists . My family have inspired and influenced me hugely - not in a cheesy way, just because art was such a huge part of everything when I was growing up. I think I was heavily inspired by my uncle Peter’s cartooning style, and the little cartoons my dad would put in my lunch bag every day, and the children’s books that my grandfather Erik illustrated for like, fifty years. Beyond that I’m also heavily influenced by tons of artists, some of whom are friends or colleagues. Allegra Lockstadt and Mithsuca Berry and Kati Yewell and Sunny Betz, among soooo many others that I have discovered through Rookie magazine. Clare Drummond’s comics are the comics I would make in my literal dreams–as are Taylor-Ruth Baldwin’s. Of course all the big guys like Vanessa Davies and Lisa Hanawalt and the queen Aline Kominsky-Crumb. My favorite illustrator of all time is Chris Ridell. What materials do you like to work with? Simple things. A very sharp 2b pencil, Bristol drawing paper, fine-liner black pens, and watercolor paints. I also like playing
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